Reginald Gardiner

Reginald Gardiner
from the trailer for the film Sweethearts (1938)
Born	27 February 1903(1903-02-27) London, England
Died	7 July 1980 (aged 77) Westwood, California, U.S.

Reginald Gardiner (27 February 1903 - 7 July 1980) was an English-born actor in film and television. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in Britain. He made his film debut in 1926 in the silent film The Lodger, by Alfred Hitchcock. Moving to Hollywood, he was cast in numerous roles, often as a British butler. One of his most famous roles was that of Schultz in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator. Toward the end of his career, Gardiner made increasing guest appearances on the leading television sitcoms of the 1960s, including Fess Parker's ABC series, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the lead guest in the episode "Citizen Bellows". His last major role was alongside Phyllis Diller in ABC's The Pruitts of Southampton.

He also recorded a curious and eccentric classic called "Trains" which was regularly played on a British radio program called Children's Favourites during the 1950s. This consisted of Gardiner, sounding slightly tipsy, reciting a monologue about steam railway engines (which he claimed were 'livid beasts') and impersonating both the engines themselves and the sound of trains running on the track. This latter he famously characterised as 'diddly-dee, diddly-dum' to mimic the sound pattern as the four pairs of bogie wheels ran over joins between the lengths of track. (A sound no longer heard since welded rail joins were introduced.) "Trains" was released as a 78 and 45 by English Decca Records (F 5278) which remained on catalogue into the 1970s. At the end of the record, Gardiner signs off with "Well folks, that's all: back to the asylum."

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Reginald Gardiner

Reginald Gardiner at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
NAME	Gardiner, Reginald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actor
DATE OF BIRTH	1903-2-27
PLACE OF BIRTH	London, England
DATE OF DEATH	1980-7-7
PLACE OF DEATH	Westwood, California, U.S.

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